frank_talk (2006-41)

“The Drive-by media and the Democrats are having a field day with this, and it’s become a distraction from the War on Terror. Let me give you a little perspective. Of all the times the president has visited with the goat, isn’t it a little suspicious these Girl Scouts stumbled in three weeks before the mid-term election? Connect the dots, people. Bill Clinton left this goat in a closet when he left six years ago. And all these hypocritical Democrats are pretending to be upset about the goat? How many of them went to see and applaud the Edward Albee play? (For those of you in Rio Linda, Albee is a New York pervert who wrote a Broadway play about a man and a goat no self-respecting Republican would go to see.
The New York Times
called it brilliant. ’Nuff said.)”

The forgoing may seem entirely plausible given the conduct of Republicans in recent years, so I need to tell you that I made it up.

We’ve endured bloated budgets, we’ve seen government grow larger and more intrusive, and we’ve seen the Congress in the control of criminals, hypocrites and liars. Now we find sufferance of, and cover provided, for a pervert. What will it take for conservatives to realize the Republican Party is being led by a gang with no principles and no commitment to your values?

Conservatives wandered in the wilderness for decades while the Republican Party promised to take power and reduce the size of government, free us from the yoke of federal bondage, increase our liberties as individual citizens of our once-free Republic. Remember restoring honor and credibility?

Since taking over, the Republican Party has been all about staying in power. To do that, they have sold out every principle they ever espoused, betrayed every promise they ever made to the rank and file conservatives, and lined their own pockets.

The list of the ethically challenged includes Tom DeLay, Jack Abramoff, Duke Cunningham, Bob Ney and Ralph Reed. Then there is the sexual deviate Mark Foley who used his position to proposition under-age pages in the House. Is there any reason under God’s green earth for a conservative to continue to support this collection of small-town crooks writ large?

(What about the Democrats? What about Gerry Studs? We didn’t support Gerry Studs. He and Barney Frank never promised to represent conservative values, reduce the size of government or balance the budget. What they did 25 years ago is not our responsibility. We are responsible for the lying bastards that
we
, as conservatives, helped put into power.)

Which brings us to U.S. Senate candidate Bob Corker, the Republican nominee. Corker is not a conservative. He is a nice fellow and his election would not be a tragedy for Tennessee. But have you heard Corker deplore the corruption, legal and moral, now rampant in the United States Congress? Has he said a word about the deplorable state of his party’s governance? Has he suggested he would lift a finger to clean up this deplorable mess? Has he called for Speaker Dennis Hastert to resign?

Corker is not a change agent. He is establishment to the core.

There is only one way for a conservative to make these people pay for what they have done. They have to be punished. If you vote for Corker you are ratifying the “big government conservative” agenda they have perpetrated.

You can say what you please about Congressman Harold Ford Jr. but you cannot deny his charisma, his ability to mobilize press coverage, his political skills. If you want someone to shake up the U.S. Senate, he is your man. At the very least his election may lead to gridlock, which has been the conservative’s friend over the years.

What the Congressional Republicans need is for someone to throw a wrench into their well-oiled money machine. Harold Ford Jr. is the tool you need.

I intend to vote for him in November and urge you to do the same. Do it to save conservatism in America. If you can’t vote for him, abstain. That works as well. Are you worried about not showing party loyalty if you don’t vote for Corker? Don’t. There is no doubt in anyone’s mind Corker’s campaign manager, Tom Ingram, will be voting for Democratic Gov. Phil Bredesen in the same election. If it doesn’t bother Corker, it shouldn’t bother you.

Frank Cagle is a political analyst and the editor of
Knoxville Magazine
. You can reach him at
frank@frankcagle.com
.